CREDENTIALS

All work and no play makes Jill a dull girl...but it also renders her susceptible to dysfunction in her hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-thyroid-gonadal axis, dysregulations in digestion and immunostasis, and vulnerability to infections—which was the case with me recently.

A confluence of factors, including sleep disruption, escalating stress, and a higher intake of refined sugar intersected to compromise my immune status and I recently came down with a recalcitrant upper respiratory infection—which hung on through much of my vacation in California.

I recognized changes in my executive function—those cortical brain functions that coordinate higher-order neurological functions including organization, decision-making, problem-solving, synthesis and assimilation of information, abstract thinking, perceptual experience, self-awareness, planning, word recall, mood regulation, and memory retrieval.

Alongside the normal physiological expressions of a cold, I was more forgetful, constantly losing m...

We can’t hate ourselves to happy or punish ourselves to health.

Many of the practices we engage in are worthy of introspection—the intent merits examination.

Guzzling green juice in the context of self-loathing, punishing ourselves with exercise in service of some unattainable cultural ideal, eliminating more and more foods from a place of fear and deprivation does not beget healing.

Coming from a place of abdicating our intuition in favor of an external authority figure, of surrendering all of our autonomy to a physician-god, does not healing make.

Constantly denigrating and diminishing ourselves and our inner compass feeds a self-destructive cycle where our motives come from a place of lack, our approaches from a space of scarcity, our mindset from a realm of ineptitude.

I used to berate my body for failing me, my appearance for supposedly not measuring up, my soul for not being what I perceived was worthy. 

When we pick ourselves apart with a fine-toothed comb, eng...

In my early twenties, I underwent a cataclysmic shift in my worldview. I began to shed systematic layers of indoctrination.

I came to recognize the subterranean stratums of my being that had been woven and forged like a convoluted web of lies.

Like a delicate house of cards, I began to deconstruct each part of my identity, each vein of my belief system, and recognize the fallacies, the contradictions, and the inconsistencies for what they were.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was being failed so miserably and resolutely by the  conventional medical system that it almost cost me my life. This prompted a journey of self-reflection—of self-education—of self-discovery—unlike anything I had ever anticipated.

I began to see that people I had entrusted with the answers were just humans recapitulating what they too had been brainwashed to believe. I was enlightened as to the corruption, the malfeasance, the systematic injustice, the propaganda and the disenfranchisement.

​
The atr...

This one-pan meal from the new resource 30 Minute Meals for the Paleo AIP incorporates ingredients rich in therapeutic phytonutrients, rendering it a free radical-busting antioxidant powerhouse.  

Ingredients:

• 2 small green apples

• 1/4 purple or red onion

•⅛ cup fresh parsley

• 4 boneless skinless chicken

thighs

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• coconut oil

• 2 medium sweet potatoes

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Equipment Needed:

• meat tenderizer or heavy

spoon

• oven safe skillet with lid

(cast iron preferred)

• microwave

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Slice apples thinly, around ⅛-inch thick. Dice onion. Wash and de-stem parsley.

3. Tenderize chicken thighs by hitting lightly with the back of a heavy spoon or meat tenderizer. Season both sides with salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.

4. Heat skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil.

5. Arrange chicken thighs evenly in pan and cook over me...

This chicken vegetable soup is perfect for digestive flares. It incorporates bone broth, which is not only soothing to a distressed digestive tract, but also provides minerals (selenium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, potassium), amino acids, and other nutrients required for gut repair.

In addition, bone broth contains amino acids like glycine and proline that are found in limited supply in muscle meat. Glycine is a precursor to glutathione (the master antioxidant of the body) and stimulates production of stomach acid and bile acids essential for digestion. Bone broth is also rich in protein found in the tendons, ligaments, and other flexible tissues that are degraded during the cooking process.

Moreover, bone broth contains collagen, glycosaminoglycans like hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, and chondroiton sulfate, all of which have a regenerative effect on connective tissue (joints, tendons, ligaments).

Due to its healing properties, bone broth is an ideal adjunctive agent to he...

The following is the next installment in my guest blogger series: a low-maintenance, nut-free recipe by Sarah Simkin from My Mindful Table. They are even AIP-friendly if you tolerate or have successfully reintroduced eggs!

This is a recipe I created to make a life a bit easier with a toddler, and could also feed my husband, since he has a nut allergy. I typically make my chicken tenders with almond meal but when I experimented with plantain chips, it was a game changer. Way less oil splashing, easier clean up and such an amazing crunch. I call it my crouton and chicken in one! I love it on top of a salad, my daughter loves it chopped up into little pieces, and my husband loves it cold right out of the fridge.

I hope you enjoy it and brings a yummy meal to you on the go, at home or at work! Without the stress of cooking, of course. 

Ingredients:

• 1- 6 ounce bag of plain plantain chips 

• 1 tablespoon of Adobe seasoning (I like to use Primal Palate) OR any seasoning you like, like Ital...

Despite depictions of healthy eating by popular media, an anti-inflammatory diet does not mean deprivation, calorie counting, flavor-less food, and a life devoid of occasional treats.

An integral part of the human story, interwoven throughout the fabric of time, is that food does not only represent nourishment and sustenance, but it is also a tool for social unity and solidarity-making, for forging bonds of community, for pleasure-seeking and satiation.

Eating paleo does not mean we need to forgo indulgences altogether---rather, we become more conscientious of the quality of ingredients we use and we learn to get in touch with the signals our body communicates---savoring every bite and becoming intentional about what we consume---in other words, practicing mindfulness and intuitive eating.

With this in mind, a place for dessert and for indulgences can be carved into a paleo template to make this eating lifestyle more gratifying and sustainable in the long-term. That said, I wi...

Think the autoimmune paleo protocol (AIP) is limiting, tasteless, and just sad? Not so! These AIP Sausage Burgers are juicy and flavorful with just a handful of staple ingredients.

Success on a protocol like AIP is dependent on your commitment, sure, but it would not be sustainable without easy-to-prepare meals.

Once you have all the ingredients, get cooking! An AIP cooking hack is to cook extra during any time you are already cooking. There is going to be a day you thank your past self for stashing a second batch of these in the freezer!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb AIP sausage (I used chicken sausage)

• 1/2 tbsp coconut flour

• 2 tbsp diced yellow onion

• ½ tsp garlic powder

• 1 cup greens of your choice, shredded

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

• Set a medium-sized skillet over medium heat.

• Combine all ingredients (except the olive oil) in a bowl and form 4 burgers.

• Add the olive oil to the skillet and place the burgers in. Flip after about 5 minut...

Victoria's recipe arrives just in time for Valentine's day! These berry crisp bars contain maple syrup as a sweetener, a nutrient-dense option rich in organic acids, minerals, amino acids, vitamins, phenolics, and oligosaccharides. Studies indicate that antioxidant activity is directly proportional to the richness and darkness of the maple syrup (Legault et al., 2010).

Moreover, polyphenolic extracts from maple syrup have been shown reduces biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria. Maple syrup likewise exhibits antimicrobial activity and inhibits growth of Gram-negative clinical strains of Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, recent research reveals that maple syrup may be a potent phytomedicine with anti-cancer effects, as it has been demonstrated to selectively inhibit cancer cell proliferation and invasion (Yamamoto et al., 2015).

Legault, J. et al. (2010). Antioxidant activity, inhibition of nitric oxide overproduction...

This vegan, paleo-compliant cheesecake contains cashews, a nutritional powerhouse, with the natural sweetness of raspberry and maple syrup.

Ingredients (makes about 8 servings):

Base ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup raw walnuts
Pinch of Himalayan salt
6 deglet noor dates

Filling ingredients:
 

3 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 can organic coconut milk or cream
Handful of raspberries
1 tsp maple syrup (can sub for stevia or monkfruit sweetener)
1 cup raw cashews

Instructions:

1. Blend all base ingredients in a food processor then flatten out in pan with parchment paper. 
2. Freeze.
3. While the base is freezing, blend all filling ingredients until smooth. Pour mixture over the base in pan.
4. Freeze for at least an hour.
5. When ready for consumption let the cheesecake defrost in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you consume.
6. Demolish.

About Laurence:

Hi, I’m Laurence! I’m a certified holistic nutritionist based in Vancouver, Canada.  Belgian born and having lived in five countries, I...